






LV ^ 






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W. A. ALLEN, AUTHOR 



The Sheep Eaters 



BY 



^W. A. i^LLEN, D.D.S. 




THE SHAKESPEARE PRESS, 

114-116 East 28th Street, 

New Yoric, 

1913, 



roo 



Copyright, iqis? 

by 
W. A. ALLEN 



This Book Is Affectionately 
Dedicated To My Friend 

Mrs. Clara Dallas. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I AN EXTINCT MOUNTAIN TRIBE 7 

II THE OLD squaw's TALE 12 

III THE GOLD SEEKER IN THE MOUNTAINS 21 

IV STARTING FOR THE PAINT ROCKS 30 

V A TALK WITH LITTLE BEAR 35 

VI CURIOSITIES AROUND PAINT ROCK 45 

VII THE STORY OF AGGRETTA AND THE RED 

ARROW 51 

VIII CLOSING WORDS 72 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER I 

AN EXTINCT MOUNTAIN TRIBE 

The Sheep Eaters were a tribe of Indians 
that became extinct about fifty years ago, and 
what remaining history there is of this tribe 
is inscribed upon granite walls of rock in 
Wyoming and Montana, and in a few defiles 
and canyons, together with a few arrows and 
tepees remaining near Black Canyon, whose 
stream empties into the Big Horn River. Bald 
Mountain still holds the great shrine wheel, 
where the twenty-eight tribes came semi-annu- 
ally to worship the sun, and in the most inacces- 
sible places may still be found the remains of a 
happy people. Small in stature and living 
among the clouds, this proud race lived a happy 
life far removed from all other Indians. 

The Shoshones seem to be a branch of the 



U] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



Sheep Eaters who afterwards intermarried 
with the Mountain Crows, a tall race of people 
who gave to the Shoshones a taller and better 
physique. From what can be gleaned, the 
Sheep Eater women were most beautiful, but 
resembled the Alaskan Indians in their short- 
ness of stature. 

These people drew their name from their 
principal article of food. Mountain Sheep, 
although, when winter set in, elk and deer were 
often killed when coming down before a driving 
snow storm. 

Their home life was simple. They lived 
in the grassy parks of the mountains which 
abounded in springs of fresh water, and were 
surrounded by evergreens and quaking asps 
and sheltered by granite walls rising from fifty 
to a thousand feet high. Their tepees were dif- 
ferent from those of all other tribes, and were 
not covered with rawhide but thatched with 
quaking asp bark, and covered with a gum and 
glue made from sheep ^s hoofs. Another variety 
were covered with pitch pine gum. 



[8] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



In this manner lived the twenty-eight tribes 
of Sheep Eaters, carving their history on 
granite walls, building their homes permanent- 
ly among the snowy peaks where they held com- 
munion with the sun, and worshipping at their 
altar on Bald Mountain, which seems likely to 
remain until the Sheep Eaters are awakened by 
Gabriel's trumpet on the morning of the resur- 
rection. 

Never having been taught differently, they 
believed in gods, chief of which was the sun, 
and consecrated their lives to them; and their 
eternal happiness will be complete in the great 
Happy Region where all is bright and warm. 
The great wheel, or shrine, of this people is 
eighty feet across the face, and has twenty- 
eight spokes, representing the twenty-eight 
tribes of their race. At the center or hub 
there is a house of stone, where Red Eagle held 
the position of chief or leader of all the tribes. 
Facing the northeast w^as the house of the god 
of plenty, and on the southeast faced the house 
of the goddess of beauty ; and due west was the 



m 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



beautifully built granite cave dedicated to the 
sun god, and from this position the services 
were supposed to be directed by him. Stand- 
ing along the twenty-eight spokes were the 
worshippers, chanting their songs of praise to 
the heavens, while their sun dial on earth was 
a true copy of the sun. 

A short time ago I learned that among the 
Mountain Crows there lived an old w^oman, who 
was the very last of her tribe, and who was so 
old she seemed like a spirit from another world. 
She had outlived her people and had wandered 
away from her home on the mountains into the 
valleys, living on berries and wild fruit as she 
wandered. She alone could read the painted 
rocks and tell their meaning, and could relate 
the past glories of the tribe and the methods of 
the arrow makers, who transformed the obsid- 
ian into the finished arrows ready to kill the 
mountain ram. 

I was very anxious to see this creature, who 
had outlived her race and her usefulness, and 
so one day T saddled my horse, Billie, put on 



[10] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



my cartridge belt, took my rifle in my liaiid, and 
set out for the mountains where I knew a small 
band of Mountain Crows were hunting buffalo 
on Wind River. 

After a long ride I passed Bovay Creek and 
struck the Buffalo Trail, which led directly 
toward the mountains. It soon headed toward 
the south and I crossed a mountain stream and 
headed toward the Big Horn Canyon. I had 
gone about two miles when I discovered some- 
thing to my right sitting on the remains of a 
mountain cedar, and in a moment I was on the 
scene. I pulled up my horse and dismounted 
and discovered that I had found the object of 
my search, the Sheep Eater squaw. 



[11] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER II 

THE OLD squaw's TALE 

Passing the Big Horn Canj^^on, Avhere the 
rushing waters were beaten into spray, and 
where granite walls were shining like great 
sapphires reflected in the sun's bright rays, I 
wondered how many centuries it took to chisel 
that mighty water way fifty- two miles through 
this tortuous mountain. Perpendicular walls 
of fully 2000 feet are standing sentinels above 
this silvery water which goes roaring and foam- 
ing through the narrow abyss. 

The golden eagle closes its wings and falls 
through space like a rocket from some unknown 
world, uttering a scream that resounds like a 
crash of lightning. The Big Horn, proudly 
perched on yonder crag, bids defiance to all 
living creatures. For fifteen miles this box 
canyon has cut through the backbone of the 
mountains and holds the clear waters as in the 



[12] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



palm of one's hand. At the mouth of the 
canyon, where the waters flow calm as a smn- 
mer lake, as though tired from their terrible 
journey, the rounded boulders, the white sands 
and quartz that have passed through, are rest- 
ing, peaceful as the wild rose which weaves to 
and fro in the spring zephyrs. 

In the sand lies a dead cedar. Torn from 
the mountain top and crashing down the canyon, 
it was carried by the rushing waters out on to 
the beach and deposited in the sand. Sitting 
on a branch of this cedar is an old woman. Her 
white locks hang crisp and short on her bony 
shoulders; her face is covered with a semi- 
parchment, brown as the forest leaves, and 
drawn tight over her high cheek bones ; her eyes 
are small and sunken in her head, but the fire 
has not yet gone out. An old elk skin robe, 
tattered and torn, is thrown across her shoul- 
ders, with its few porcupine quills still hanging 
by the sinew threads where they were placed 
a century ago. The last of her race! Yes, 
long ago her people have become extinct, 



m 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



passed away leaving her to die. But alas, 
death does not claim her, and she wanders alone 
until picked up by the mountain Absarokees. 

I sat down by her side and asked her by sign 
talk: ''Are you a Sioux T' She shook her 
head. ''Are you a Blackfootf Again she 
shook her head, and the effort seemed to tire 
her. I made many signs of the different tribes, 
but in the Crow sign she said "No'' to them all. 
Her form seemed to be of rawhide, and on her 
fingers were still a few old rings made from the 
horn of the bighorn ram. 

I gave her some of my lunch, as I ate, and 
she munched it with a set of old teeth worn to 
the gums. She ate in silence until all was 
gone; then I told her I was a medicine man, 
and asked her how old she was. She held up 
ten stubs of fingers, all of which had been 
partly cut off while mourning for dead rela- 
tives, then took them down until she had 
counted one hundred and fifteen years. Her 
eyes brightened, and she fronted away to the 
main range to a towering crag of granite, fac- 



.[li; 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



ing the north, where Bull Elk Canyon empties 
into the Big Horn. She held her withered arm 
high above her head and said in sign language : 
^'My people lived among the clouds. We 
were the Sheep Eaters w^ho have passed away, 
but on those walls are the paint rocks, where 
our traditions are written on their face, chis- 
eled with obsidian arrow heads. Our people 
were not warriors. We worshipped the sun, 
and the sun is bright and so were our people. 
Our men were good and our women were like 
the sun. The Great Spirit has stamped our 
impressions on the rocks by His lightnings; 
there are many of our people who were outlined 
on those smooth walls years ago ; then our peo- 
ple painted their figures, or traced them with 
beautiful colored stones, and the paleface calls 
them *^ painted rocks. '^ Our people never came 
down into the valleys, but always lived among 
the clouds, eating the mountain sheep and the 
goats, and sometimes the elk when they came 
high on the mountains. Our tepees were made 
of the cedar, thatched with grey moss and 



[15] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



cemented \^^.tll the gum from tlie pines, car- 
peted with the mountain skeep-skins, soft as 
down. Our garments were made from the skins 
of the gazelle, and ornamented with eagle feath- 
ers and ermine and otter skins. 

^'We chanted our songs to the sun, and the 
Great Spirit was pleased. He gave us much 
sheep and meat and berries and pure water, 
and snow to keep the flies away. The water 
was never muddy. We had no dogs nor horses. 
We did not go far from our homes, but were 
happy in our mountain abode. Then came the 
Sioux, who killed the elk and buffalo in the 
valleys. They had swarms of dogs and horses, 
and ran the game until it left the valleys and 
went far away. Their people were always at 
war and stealing horses, which was very wrong 
in the sight of our people, who never stole any- 
thing. Our men were fearless and brave, and 
could bring down all kinds of game with their 
bows and arrows, and were contented; but the 
Sioux were not contented with fighting their 
enemies, but came to our mountain home and 



[16] 




SHEEP EATER SQUAW 115 YEARS OLD 

"the woman under the ground'' 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



began to try to ascend the trail. Our chief met 
them on the steep precipice and ordered them 
to stop where they were, but they murmured 
and made signs of battle. Our people had great 
masses of rock as large as houses, where they 
could let them loose down the trail and crush 
the Sioux into the earth as they were all down 
in a deep canyon. 

^^The Sioux stopped and began a war coun- 
cil, and began to paint and get ready for battle. 
Our chief got the great rocks ready, and then 
sent a runner to tell the Sioux that our people 
never went into the valleys nor killed the 
buffalo, and that we wished to be apart from all 
other people. After a long council the Sioux 
fired a volley of arrows at our runner, and 
wounded him in the thigh. He came to the 
chief greatly alarmed at the dreaded Sioux as 
they were many. 

^'The ponies in the valley below were 
strange looking creatures to us; we had never 
seen them before. The dogs were howling and 
the valley rang with the wild warwhoop. The 



[17] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



time had come for action, and the Sheep Eaters 
assembled at the narrow trail, headed by their 
chieftain, Eed Eagle, with his bow six feet long, 
made from the mountain ram's horn, and 
bound with glue and sinew from the sheep's 
neck. Great excitement prevailed. The squaws 
and children had hidden among the rocks with 
all their robes and earthly possessions. The 
wild and savage Sioux knew no fear and were 
pressing up the narrow trail with war paint 
and feathers, their grim visages scowling in the 
sunlight as they came. 

^'Red Eagle, with that bravery known only 
to his tribe, waited until they had reached the 
most dangerous precipice. Then with a great 
lever that had been prepared years before, he 
loosened the great rock from its moorings, and 
with one crash it sped down the canyon like a 
cyclone, tearing the trees from their roots, and 
starting the rocks, until the canyon became one 
great earthquake. The screams of the terrified 
Indians, the howling of dogs and the neighing 
of liorses were heard in one awful roar. The 



[18] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



battle was over. The canyon was a mass of 
blood, and death was abroad in the valley. Not 
a living thing was to be seen. 

^^Red Eagle took a horn made of red cedar, 
and gave one long quivering blast which echoed 
and reechoed through the alps and was carried 
across the glaciers to every part of the moun- 
tain. Then the women and children came back 
and once more took shelter in their comfortable 
homes. ' ' 

I arose and gave the old crone the balance 
of my lunch, and told her I was going to see 
that mountain some day and see their houses, 
but she held up her hand and said, ^^Away up 
mountain long time ago, maybe so, no tepee 
now. ' ' 

And I went and left her sitting alone on the 
old tree, waiting for the Great Spirit to come 
take her to her tribe, over on the happy hunting 
ground, where scenes of warfare and savage 
Sioux would never molest them again. As I 
left her alone on the bank of the Big Horn I 
could not help feeling a pang of pity for the 



[19] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



wild woman of the Eockies, wliose life had been 
spent among the canyons, and on the streams 
whose waters had chiseled great passages 
through those granite walls centuries ago. 
She who was once a belle in her tribe and had 
lived to see the extermination of her people, 
and now wandered alone wishing to die and 
pass beyond. The earth was not to her as it 
had been in her youth. 

I shall never forget the spell that came over 
me as she raised her palsied arm and showed 
me where she had lived a hundred years ago. 
Something seemed to tell me she was speaking 
the truth and my trip to that mountain became 
a living passion from that day. 



[20] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER III 

THE GOLD SEEKER 11^ THE MOUNTAINS 

On the apex of Medicine Mountain, whose 
rugged cliffs hold communion with the fleeting 
clouds, and where the winds sing dismal songs 
among the cedar boughs, there the forked 
lightnings at intervals light up the panorama 
and a thousand beautiful springs and water- 
falls sparkle like myriads of diamonds. The 
mountain ash and the golden leaves of the 
mountain quaking asp cast their shadows to 
make perfect this great wonderland, whose 
colors are more splendid than the rainbow or 
the golden setting of the western sun. 

Among such scenery one could live away 
from the gilded vices and the artificial lives of 
the crowded cities, and it was close to the god of 
nature these people lived and carved their his- 
tory on the mountains and rocks, worshipped 
the sun because it was warm and bright, and 

[21] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



because it lighted the narrow trail through the 
defiles of the mountains, across the streams and 
through the cool green forests, along the 
rugged cliffs where the horny hoofs of the elk, 
deer, and mountain sheep had blazed a trail so 
narrow and so steep that none but the Sheep 
Eaters dare travel its rugged heights. 

Along these trails could be seen at the four 
seasons of the year, all of the Sheep Eaters, 
wending their way to the sacred shrine, the 
great wheel, with its gates and its gods of 
plenty and light. Here on an elevated spur a 
thousand feet above the Porcupine Basin, 
standing out to the east, is a great look-out, 
where the great sun dial with its twenty-eight 
spokes representing the twenty-eight tribes of 
the Sheep Eaters, overlooking the great Grey 
Bull country, the Ten Sleep Mountains and the 
Teton Peaks sweeping down toward the Big 
Horn Canyon. There the Grey Bull and Wind 
River and Sage Creek are sweeping through 
Big Horn Canyon, with its chiseled walls, more 
than a third of a mile in height, and its serpen- 

rooi 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



tine trail fifty-two miles into the Big Horn 
Eiver, and thence into the Yellowstone and Mis- 
souri and on to the ocean. 

Here nature's god had spread with lavish 
hand the richest and the greatest blessings to 
the Sheep Eaters. The buffalo down in the 
valleys, the antelope on the plains, the gazelle 
along the streams, and the elk, black-tail and 
big horn on the mountains, the mountain 
grouse, and the streams filled with trout, camas 
root for bread, cherries, raspberries, and 
strawberries, made a Garden of Eden for these 
people until a thousand years had passed, and 
the tribes increased to twenty-eight before the 
onw^ard march of the Sioux across and beyond 
the Mississippi and Missouri brought them into 
the Sheep Eaters' country. 

Around the base of these mountains were 
many alluring deposits of gold, and small gold 
camps had started at Fire Springs, Bear Creek 
and on the east and west forks of the historical 
Little Big Horn, all in or near the beautiful 
Porcupine Basin. But the alluring grains of 



[23] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



the precious metal could not be found in pay- 
ing quantities and the miners had quietly 
packed their plunder and ^' hiked the trail' ^ to 
more plentiful paying ^ Wiggins.'' 

The entire \dllage was deserted except for 
the venerable Captain Jack, who still drew a 
pension from the English Government which, 
small as it was, supported him in this beautiful 
country. 

As we swung down the trail which passed 
near his cabin door, we were hailed by the 
old veteran, coming wet from his claim with a 
pan of sand, which showed many grains of 
bright gold. 

^^Just took up a small pan, it's sure rich," 
he said, ^^get down and we will have supper 
and some deer steak.'' 

This was too much, for we were all hungry 
and tired, and the large black-tail deer hanging 
in the corner of his cabin told only too well 
that venison was in the larder. Our horses were 
soon picketed, the packs stored away, and we 



[24] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



were all straining our eyes to see the precious 
gold. 

There were many colors, but all but two 
or three were very fine. They had lured thou- 
sands to the Basin, but the yellow metal could 
not be found in anything like paying quantities. 
Mr. McKensey told the Captain that I was quite 
an expert in placer mining and had been in the 
Black Hills, Virginia City, and Old Alder 
Gulch. This was enough and I had to agree to 
stay over a day and see a wonderful clean-up, 
which would be tomorrow. I wanted to see 
more of the wonderful Basin and so decided to 
stay over and see the Captain make his week's 
clean-up, which should run from seventy-five to 
a hundred dollars, all told. 

The Captain was seventy years of age, rheu- 
matic, and slightly bent. Only when speaking 
of the English Army he straightened his 
shoulders and was all soldier. His eyes were 
a steel grey, and his hair was long and white, 
hanging on his shoulders, and he wore a long 
thin beard. He was well educated and loved 



[25] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



the mountains with a love only known to the 
old pioneer and miner. With assurances of a 
fine clean-up in the morning we retired. 

Morning brought the sweet refreshed feel- 
ing only known to the tired mountaineer, and 
after our breakfast of venison, coffee, fried 
potatoes and bacon, we were off for the sluice- 
boxes laden with the precious metal. 

As we walked along, the Captain told me 
that the geological formation was something 
wonderful in that region, but with my lifetime 
of experience I could see no reason for placer 
gold in the mountains. The decomposed 
mountains showed considerable erosion but the 
rocks seemed entirely devoid of granite or 
quartz, and there was no volcanic action to be 
seen. There was considerable iron and sand- 
stone, but no sign whatever of gravel wash. 
The small particles of gold had surely been de- 
posited by some glacial wash from the north 
in the early formation of the earth. 

Soon we reached the cut where the Captain 
had done some wonderful work in the shale 



[26] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



rock. Where a large spring came out of the 
ground he had piled the rock ten feet high on 
either side, and his dump where he had piled 
tons of dirt was in splendid shape. Here was a 
notice framed in the miner's style describing 
the veins, lodes, dips and spurs, running fifteen 
hundred feet to the north-west and south-east, 
corner posts, etc. 

The sluice-boxes were soon cleaned and the 
sand and gravel reduced until we could almost 
see the bottom of the pan — but no gold. After 
the entire contents was retorted with quick- 
silver and burned out there was not twenty-five 
cents worth of gold. The Captain assured me 
that his partner had taken several ounces out 
of the claim and had sent it to the assay office 
for melting and refining. 

I said, ^'Captain, you are an old man and 
should go to the settlements and enjoy the re- 
mainder of your life.'* He replied, ^^ There is 
no place on this earth so dear to me as these 
mountains. Here is where I have lived and 
here is where I shall die — close to the nature 



[27] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



god and his beautiful works, among the flowers 
and birds of summer and the storms and ever- 
greens of winter.'^ 

It was enough. I caught the inspiration 
and could have remained with him had I been 
so unconventional. But life held something 
dearer and I was soon headed toward the cabin. 

^'Well, Captain/' I said, *^you will never 
find gold in these mountains, but if you love the 
crags, and the wild winds and the deer, nature 
in all its purity, the bursting of the buds in 
springtime, the flowers on a thousand hills, the 
cold pure water, the frisking squirrels, the 
pure air; then stay in the home of the miner, 
the prospector, the hunter and the nature lover, 
until you cross the great divide which is allotted 
to all men.'' 

Our visit with the Captain was at an end, 
and we must say good-bye, perhaps forever. 
Our horses were ready and our packs were 
lashed on with the diamond hitch. I got my 
saddle horse and we moved down the trail, the 
Captain talking about his placer. At last 



[28] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



we came to the steep trail, and he straightened 
up and said, ^^Well, when the snow flies I will 
see you at your home in the city of Billings, and 
then I will show you some gold that will con- 
vince you that I am right. ' ^ 

^^ Captain,'^ I said, ^Hhe latch-string hangs 
out for you, and if you will only come and spend 
the winter with me I shall then endeavor to 
even up the score with you for this favor, as I 
know I can do it in no other way. ' ^ 

He replied, '^Well, I am glad that you know 
it, and when you photo the great paint rocks 
of the Sheep Eaters, their Wheel or Holy 
Shrine, their tepees and landmarks, send me 
a copy of their wonderful works. And may 
the Great Spirit keep you until we meet again. 
So long. Doctor. '^ 

*^So long. Captain, and may your days be 
full of sunshine.'* 



[29] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER IV 

STAETING FOE THE PAINT EOCKS 

Slowly we traveled down the trail full of 
rounded boulders and stone, our horses scarcely 
able to keep their feet, and finally we walked 
and led our horses until we reached a valley 
far below the apex of the mountain. Here a 
clear cold stream of water went tumbling down 
the valley, and here we unpacked and made our 
camp for the night. 

While McKensey cooked supper I went 
after a black bear, w^hose tracks I had noticed 
on the sand at the water's edge. I took a 
course as near north-west as possible, and was 
soon among the trees and rocks which I loved 
so well, and which brought remembrance of 
other days among the mountains. 

After some wandering I struck a heavy 
game trail, and could see deer and bear tracks 
not over a day old. I filled the magazine of my 

[30] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



rifle and plunged along at a fast pace. Here 
and there were thick clumps of quaking asp, 
mountain birch, and on the creek banks were 
choke cherries and plum trees. Great springs 
of water bubbled out of the earth, and by one 
of these springs I found some of the Sheep 
Eaters ' lodges. They were decayed and fallen 
to the earth, but the rounded stones with which 
they warmed the water were there, where the 
great medicine lodges had stood years before, 
and where, unmolested, they had passed happy 
days among the hills and valleys. 

The old woman's stories of her people were 
being proved true, and as I passed onward mile 
after mile I was entranced with the richness of 
the land, the abundance of game that had once 
held sway among the hills, shown by the antlers 
of the elk parched white by the suns, which lay 
on every side and the rams ' horns often seen by 
the stream. A few bones of the little gazelle 
were among the remains, and a heavy buffalo 
trail cut the mountains where once the buffalo 



[31] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



passed through this land out onto the Yellow- 
stone. 

I had wandered a long way and now cut 
across the countr}^ to the camp through rocky 
canyons and dense cedar growth. I started a 
bear from his bed but could not find him, and 
then found that the bear had started a large 
band of black-tail deer, which ran about a half 
a mile and then walked leisurely along, crop- 
ping the bunch grass here and there. About 
a mile from camp I jumped a bunch of fourteen 
of all kinds, and when they broke cover out of 
a plum thicket I shot a two-year-old spike buck, 
cut off his hams and carried him to camp, where 
I found the boys waiting for some venison. 

Our camp fire already lit up the valley, and 
the clear running stream glistened as it passed 
over the granite and quartz of the Porcupine 
Basin. Great shadows were thrown among the 
trees like the ghosts and goblins on the ride of 
Tam O'Shanter, who reveled among the witches 
and warlocks. But we were hungry and happy 



[32: 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



and turned our attention to the broiling veni- 
son and brewing coffee. 

After supper we began a study of the moun- 
tains and the probable cause of gold being dis- 
tributed all along the streams in such small 
quantities. Some said it was deposited by a 
great glacier from the north, or some volcanic 
action on or near the natural park, but no 
theory seemed wholly satisfactory. 

When the sun illumined a thousand peaks 
the next morning, after a delightful rest, we 
rode away from this Holy Grail of the Sheep 
Eaters, and it v/as not hard to imagine the 
character of the little men who lived among 
these hills and valleys. 

When we reached the top of the divide we 
took a south-eastern course for the famous 
Paint Rock country, near Shell Creek and its 
tributaries. Our route lay through the sage 
brush of the Bad Lands, and some of the party 
were very anxious to stop at a mountain stream 
and catch some trout. There were some old 



[33] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



sluice-boxes and deserted cabins, which were 
very interesting to the average sightseer. 

But we pulled on for the Paint Eock, and 
after ten hours hard ride we arrived on this 
sacred and historic ground. We picketed our 
tired horses, piled our packs under a cotton- 
wood tree, and were soon trying to unravel the 
mysteries of an extinct race. Strange to say 
no horses were visible on the great calendar of 
rocks, but men, women, children, and hiero- 
glyphics were crowded on all available places 
that one could get to register some fact or 
fancy of this tribe. 



[34] 




s 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER V 

A TALK WITH LITTLE BEAR 

The term Paint Eocks will convey various 
meanings to the average reader. A descrip- 
tion seems in order to make more plain what 
these rocks are like. 

Just imagine a stream of clear, pure water 
running through a canyon, small and narrow, 
with a smooth-surfaced rock face, cut by the 
water when the earth and stone were young 
and tender, on which one could write as on a 
black-board in a school room. Here the Sheep 
Eaters came to record their history. Here 
father and son came to write the traditions of 
their tribe; and here came that old squaw, 
whose name in her own tribe, as translated by 
the Crow chief. Pretty Eagle, was, *^Under- 
The-Ground/' Emblems, original with their 
tribe, were cut with the obsidian arrowhead in 
irregular semicircles. The outlines of men and 

[35] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



women were about three feet in height. In 
some places the storms, the wind and the water, 
had erased parts of the engraving. In other 
places hunters had built their smoking camp- 
fires against the face of the rock and blurred 
the markings, or had wantonly fired bullets 
into the faces and destroyed the work of the 
Indians. 

As I was getting my camera arranged to 
get a picture of one group, an old Indian came 
riding up the creek on a pinto pony. Soon 
came dogs, and squaws dragging their tepee 
poles, and without so much as a ^'How,'' they 
began tearing oif their packs and setting up 
their lodges. The packs consisted of old 
kettles, stale meat, old elk skins made into 
robes, parflesakes filled to the brim with pem- 
mican, made of elk fat, choke cherries, and 
jerked elk half dried and half horsehair. 
Several young puppies, too young to walk, were 
tied with soft thongs just under the fore legs 
of the xjonies. 

Within half an hour tlie whole Little Basin 



[36] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



was lilled with the smell of spoiled meat and 
musty old blankets, spread in the smi to dry, 
and the whole camp looked like the dump 
ground of a small town. 

The old chief turned the entire care of the 
horses, dogs, provisions and camp over to the 
squaws, and while they were busy, he came 
slowly toward the camera, watching every move 
I made in trying to get a picture of the Paint 
Rocks. He was about five feet tall, heavy set 
and rather dark. His good, round head well 
set on fine shoulders, Avas covered with long, 
heavy hair, carefully braided in small braids, 
which hung below his waist. At intervals 
these braids were cemented with some wax and 
painted red and green, which gave them the 
appearance of being bound w^ith straps. The 
sternness of his large mouth, square chin, and 
heavy jaw was relieved by the large, brown 
eyes. Three scars on his face told of a battle 
fought many years ago, as also did the knife 
scar on his breast and the old gun-shot wound. 
On his wrist were brass wristlets, and three 



[37] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



missing finger joints told of mournings for his 
dead. A medicine bag and a half dozen elk 
teeth swung at his throat; these and beaded 
moccasins and leggins showed him to be a chief. 
An Indian he was all through. 

As I turned to look at him he straightened 
himself to his full height, and I had taken him 
in from head to heel when he put his right arm 
out in front of him closed his hand, and gave 
it three rapid motions up and down, which, in 
sign talk, is ' * How do you do. ' ' Quick as a flash 
I straightened my arm out, laying my thumb 
across my little finger, made a half curve, out 
from the body inward, then an angling sweep 
down, which means ^'Good.'' A twinkle came 
in his eye, and he answered by giving me the 
same sign. 

I knew him, but twenty years had passed 
over his head since I last saw him, and it was 
twenty-eight years since he and Sitting Bull 
fought a duel with knives, on the Big Horn. 

I gave him a challenge and called him a 
Sioux, which is done by straightening the 



[38] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



fingers of the right hand, laying the thumb 
close into the palm, making a rounded curve 
outward, then a quick sweep across the throat. 
He found and gave me the answer '^No.'^ 
Then he came very close to me, and when he 
saw the powder in my face, he gave a grunt of 
satisfaction. 

I took oif my glove and held out my hand. 
He grasped it quickly and said in the Crow 
language, *^Long time ago," then paused — 
**long — time — ago, many moons, you heap good 
to me and my braves. ' ' 

* ^ How many moons ? " I asked. 

He stopped and his mind was busy running 
over the many years, many camp-fires, the 
wrongs he had sustained from the British 
Government which compelled them to leave 
their homes and come to the United States. 
With a sigh he held up one hand, and with the 
other hand pulled down three fingers, saying, 
*^Ten, ten, ten.'^ 

I gave him the sign of correct, then his face 



[39] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



brightened, and as the boys gathered around us, 
he said, '^Do yon know who it isf 

^'Yes,'' I replied, ^^I know you, you are 
Little Bear, the chief of the Cree Nation.'' 
He held up his hands and began making rapid 
signs. ^^It was you," he said, ^'who w^ere our 
friend w^hen our braves were arrested for 
killing buffalo on Eazor Creek." 

^'Yes," I replied. 

**We never forget our friends," said he. 
He then gave me a beautiful peace pipe. The 
stem was two feet long, with animals engraved 
on it; and the bowl was made from Minnesota 
pipe-stone rock, inlaid with silver. 

Our camp fire was going, and w^e all sat 
around it and smoked the pipe of peace, which 
is done as follows : The pipe is filled with the 
bark of a red willow, and when lighted is 
handed to the highest or head chief. He takes 
one or two long whiffs; then, as he raises his 
head and blows the smoke in clouds toward the 
heavens and the Great Spirit, he passes the 
pipe to his guest on the right. This is con- 



[40] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



tinued until the pipe is empty, and all is done 
with the greatest reverence toward the Great 
Spirit. 

After the peace smoke, Little Bear, with his 
squaw and his son, took dinner with us. We 
had fresh venison, potatoes, onions, hot pan- 
cakes and maple syrup, canned pineapple and 
coffee. Little Bear ate a hearty dinner and 
said it was good, and to meet friends made him 
very happy. 

After the meal I took some pictures of the 
rocks, and Little Bear asked me what I wanted 
them for. I told him those marks were a his- 
tory of an ancient tribe of people. 

^^Yes,'^ he said, ''many, many, moons. Our 
tribe knew nothing of them. Long, maybe so, 
heap years, much old squaw live with Mountain 
Crows. Crows call her 'Under-The-Ground.' 
She tell much of little folks way up mountain. 
Much eat Big Horn sheep. Much pray sun and 
heap Great Spirit. Old squaw say, little squaw 
much good face, all time good, bucks no fight, 
yes. ' ' 



[41] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



I told him I had been upon the Medicine and 
Bald mountains and had seen their shrine 
wheel, and where they had lived in the Big 
Horn mountains. I told him I had also been 
far up Clark's Fork, where their sheep pens 
were, * ^ Yes, ' ' I said, ^ ^ they are all gone. Great 
chief, Pretty Eagle, and I were old friends, and 
he told me all about the little Indians, their 
bows and arrows, and many things the old 
squaw had told him about their lives on the 
mountains; but Sheep Eaters, all gone now.'' 

^*Ugh," he replied, ^'by and by, maybe so, 
Crees all gone, Crows all. Heap bad for In- 
jins." 

I told him it would be a long time before 
that happened, and that some day perhaps the 
Government would let the Crees come and live 
with the Crows, on the beautiful Little Horn. 

*^Yes," he said, ^Hhat would be very nice. 
If the Great Father at Washington would only 
say the word, we would come and work very 
hard. We do not like our reservation in the 
North-west. It is too cold and the land is poor 



[42] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



and the Red Coats are not good to Injins.'^ 

When our visit was over and the Indians 
were preparing to move, I turned the camera 
on the camp. A squaw who was watching me, 
gave a grunt, turned her back, and ran ; and the 
others, alarmed scattered like dry leaves before 
a wind. They did not return until I had taken 
the camera down and put it away. Little Bear 
explained that they were afraid, because they 
thought the camera a bad spirit. 

As the little band moved off toward the 
north. Chief Little Bear came and grasped my 
hand and said, ^'You have always been my 
friend, good-bye. ' ' 

As they rode away with all their wordly 
goods packed on a few poor cayuses, I could 
not help contrasting their present condition 
with that of thirty years ago. Then the red 
man owned the country. The plains, the rivers, 
the trees were his; and his, too, were the wild 
horse, the buffalo, the elk, the deer, and the 
fish. Self reliant, free, happy, he was then ; to- 
day, a beggar. Everything taken from him, 



[43] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



his tribal relations broken, left alone. The 
hardest stroke of all was to have the tribal rela- 
tions broken, and to be forced under the control 
of the hated and despised pale face. Happy in- 
deed were the Sheep Eaters never to have been 
driven from their mountain home and never to 
have known the power of the pale face ! 



[44] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER VI 

CUBIOSITIES AROUND PAINT ROCKS 

For two days we camped among the Paint 
Rocks, studying them, but could find nothing 
that indicated battle or fighting. Neither did 
we find any dead, nor graves, nor even bones. 
If, like the Crows, they buried in the trees, the 
last trace was gone. There were no mounds of 
earth, or indications of earth burials. The 
rocks were mostly covered with likenesses of 
nude men, women, and children, and with em- 
blems. In places the artist evidently stood on 
some elevation of wood or stone, for the carv- 
ing was higher than the average man could 
reach. Along a crest of sandstone I saw some 
very odd formations; they looked like huge in- 
verted cones, that some giant sculj^tor had 
carved there. Perhaps they w^ere formed by 
the erosion of centuries, or it may have been 
the wear caused by the rubbing of the buffaloes, 

[45] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



for we found many of their bones there, and I 
have often seen telegraph poles rubbed to the 
breaking point. When the buffalo is annoyed 
by buffalo gnats and his great coat is filled with 
mud and sand, he soon wears away a pretty 
strong pole. 

This was a strange place, and in our search 
we found geodes, petrified snakes, and short 
sections of fish. We also found several petri- 
fied jaw-bones, of what looked to be wolves, 
still containing the teeth, and fossils of many 
kinds. Some looked like vegetables, some were 
hexagonal, and some looked as though made of 
floor tiling. We found many water and moss 
agates of various sizes. The ground was cov- 
ered with some meteoric rock full of iron. 

Here we passed the day hunting for some 
graves, but it was no use. Tree burial seems 
to have been their method of disposing of the 
dead. In this method of burial the body is 
taken to some low bushy tree, rolled in fine 
robes and blankets, and with green strips of elk 
hide, wrapped to two or more limbs. This 



[4-6] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



secures it very firmly, and as the sun and wind 
dry out the skin the thongs tighten, until only 
years of sun and rain, mice and bugs, eat away 
the thongs, and the blankets, bones, and skins 
are carried away by the wind. In this method 
of burial the body lasts about twenty years or 
less. 

We were tired and hungry when we re- 
turned to camp, but we soon had a blazing fire 
with all the odors of good things on the breeze. 
Just as we sat down to eat, I heard a horse's 
footfall, and turned to see who it was. A young 
brave rode into the trail, and I caught up my 
gun. His hands went up like a flash giving me 
the sign of a Crow. As all the hunters and 
trappers in the west, north and south of the 
Yellowstone Eiver, know the Crows to be peace- 
ful, I put up my gun and gave him the sign that 
I understood what he said. 

Young braves are always the very hardest 
members of the tribe to engage in conversation, 
except a young girl of marriageable age. Both 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



do all tlieir courting by making eyes at each 
other. 

I knew him. He was a chief's son. Years 
before I had got some papers to Washington 
for his father. Also I knew he could talk some 
broken English and Crow, and was a superb 
sign talker. 

We began to eat and I made signs for him 
to picket his horse and join us at supper. I 
knew he was trailing the camp outfit, which had 
gone and w^as many miles away by this time. 
He pretended not to understand, but looking 
much disappointed, started to ride away. I 
hailed him and told him to go bacl^ and get his 
packs, and come have supper with us, and 
picket his horses with ours. His face remained 
blank, and he showed no sign of understanding 
till I added that I was a friend of the Little 
Bear chief, and had kept the officers from ar- 
resting his braves at Razor Creek many moons 
ago. Then his face lighted up. ''Ugh, me see 
you before. How you know me got pack 
horses! You no see 'em." 

[48] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



^^ Never mind, I know Injin,'' I replied, *^I 
heap plenty see. ' ' 

He turned down the trail and soon returned 
with three good looking packs, well loaded. I 
showed him a good place to unpack and he made 
short work of it. And then what a supper that 
Indian did eat! 

After supper I told him the story of the Eeil 
rebellion in Canada, and how when they got 
whipped the halfbreeds and Indians came 
across the line into the United States; and the 
history of his grandfather, the Big Bear, and 
his father, the Little Bear. All of this amused 
him and put him on very easy terms for the 
night. I asked him why he would not talk with 
me when he first came up. 

He said, *' Sometimes Injin say too much. 
Me no talk much. Better so. Some white man 
want to know heap too much. You my friend. 
You Little Bear friend, my papa.'' 

^^Yes,'' I said, ^^I understand, but you can 
talk like the pale face some, and you have a 
Cree alphabet." 



[49] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



**Me no can say what you mean,'* he replied. 
I took a paper and showed him some of the 
letters which ran like this T7 ^> ^ |;>>> 

**Yes, me heap understand/' 

*'I got some letters from Canada, which 
were written to your father. Your sister read 
them to me in English, and I sent letters to the 
Great Father at Washington, to get a place for 
your tribe with the Crows.'' 

**Yes, me heap savy now," he said. 



[50] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER VII 

THE STORY OF AGGRETTA AND RED ARROW 

On my return I passed the Little Horn, 
swung to the west, and traveled up the Big 
Horn to the canyon, where I found some mixed 
Indians who were busy catching and drying 
white fish. There were River Crows, Sho- 
shones, and a few Mountain Crows camped 
along the river in their summer homes or 
wickyups. 

After I had dismounted, taken off my packs, 
and turned my horses loose to eat the bountiful 
bunch grass with which the ground was car- 
peted, I went up the river to where some rocks 
projected into the water and soon caught a 
dozen fine trout, and began getting my supper. 
Just as all was ready, I saw the old Sheep 
Eater squaw sitting on the ground not far 
away. I went over to her and, taking her by 
the arm, led her to my camp fire and helped her 



[51] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



to a portion of my broiled trout, potatoes, and 
coffee. She kept her eyes on me for a while 
as she ate, then said in sign talk, **I know you 
now. ' ' 

I answered, ^^YesT' 

When she had finished eating, she drank her 
coffee and setting the tin cup down, said with 
a sigh, ^'Heap good.'' Then, after giving me 
a long and earnest look, ^^Me heap know you, 
yes, long time ago; heap talk about mountains 
and Sheep Eaters, yes." 

This was my chance, and I was not slow to 
take it. *^Yes," I said, ^^and I should like to 
know more of your people," and as she made 
no reply I went on, ^' about the young people, 
about how they get married." 

Still without looking at me, she answered: 
^^Me all time know about young Chief Ked Ar- 
row, Papoose, and the beautiful young squaw, 
Aggretta ; face all time like sun, all time beauti- 
ful eyes like stars, Aggretta bring springtime 
and flowers, heap. Yes I tell pale-face about 
Bed Eagle Papoose and Aggretta." 



[52] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



By this time many braves were standing 
around the camp-fire listening to the old Sheep 
Eater, who rarely talked of her people. She 
settled herself more comfortably, pulled her 
blanket around her shoulders, and began her 
tale in a dull, listless way, but as scene after 
scene came before her mind, she forgot her 
audience and herself and lived again those days 
of her girlhood. As I watched the flush come 
to her cheeks and the light kindle in her eyes, 
I lost sight of the withered old relic of a tribe 
now passed away, and saw only the beautiful 
girl of the past taking part in the scenes she so 
vividly described. 

This is the story she told: **Red Eagle 
papoose no name yet. He never do anything 
to get name. Papoose boy must do something 
good, save some life, do some great act before 
he can be great man. Aggretta get name be- 
cause she so beautiful. Papoose go see Ag- 
gretta, stay long time, give her beautiful eagle 
feathers and beads, but Aggretta no make beau- 
tiful eyes at him. Come summer time, Ag- 



[53] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



gretta go to mountain top to pray to sun. 
Come dark night, storm, Aggretta get lost 
among clouds. The great storm swept all over 
mountains and snow fell on ground, on moun- 
tain top. 

''When Eed Eagle papoose find out Ag- 
gretta lost on mountain, his heart on ground. 
He get dried sheep and roots and great bow and 
arrows, flint arrows, and go to Aggretta.'' 

Fascinated, I listened, oblivious to every- 
thing but her story, which I shall have to put 
into my own words: "Swift as the mountain 
ram he climbs the rugged rocks an^ takes the 
trail to the great shrine wheel. Soon he finds 
her moccasin tracks, and with all the fleetness 
of an Indian runner he climbs the rocky trail, 
here and there stooping to find a footmark, the 
breaking of a piece of moss, or the displacing 
of a small stone. The bent grass in places 
showed the direction in which Aggretta had 
gone. With bow and arrow he glided on and 
up. Soon he came to the snow line, where the 
trail became more precipitous and the snow 



[54] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



deeper. He stopped and wildly blew his cedar 
horn, but no answer came. The storm had 
abated and the sun's warm rays were making 
the snow soft. All impressions and trails were 
obliterated. The reflection of the sun on the 
snow was blinding. After a careful survey, he 
struggled on up the trail, whose serpentine 
twists wound in and out through trees and 
canyons and dazzling snow until he was almost 
blinded. 

*^ Entering a narrow canyon filled with fir 
and spruce trees, he stopped in this haven to 
rest his tired eyes. When his vision had 
cleared, his heart gave a bound; he thought he 
could see a moccasin track ahead in the trail. 
He was off like a deer, and in a moment he was 
scraping the soft snow away to find — the tracks 
of a terrible grizzly. Now he knew there was 
trouble ahead, for he felt sure the bear would 
follow Aggretta's trail. His suspicions proved 
correct, and mile after mile he followed the 
trail, until he came to the camping ground 
where the Sheep Eaters met twice a year to 



[55] 



THE SHEEP EATEKS 



worship. Just as lie reached an elevated spot 
lie heard the scream of his Aggretta, and start- 
ing in the direction from which it came, he saw 
the grizzly coming straight for him. He 
brought his long bow to his face and placed the 
great jagged arrow against the sinew. Drop- 
ping on his back, with both feet against the bow 
and both hands on the sinew, he bent the bow 
until the arrow was just at full length and the 
flint touched the bow; then, letting the bear 
have the shaft full in the breast, he jumped like 
a cat to one side, and the bear passed. One 
terrible roar told that the grizzly had been hit 
in a vital place. 

**The bear turned and started after the 
young brave, who was bounding along toward 
the scrub fir tree where Aggretta was perched. 
On came the bear, with the blood streaming 
from his mouth, steadily gaining on the brave, 
until it seemed certain he would catch him be- 
fore the tree was reached. Aggretta, watching 
the race, gave a cry of warning, and the brave 
turned suddenly and bounded away down the 

[56] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



hill. The bear, infuriated with pain, rushed 
after him. When the distance between them 
was short, the brave leaped aside with the 
agility of a coyote, while the weight of the great 
monster carried it down the mountain side. Be- 
fore the bear could make the turn, the brave 
was beside his Aggretta in the tree. But no 
sooner had he cleared the ground than the 
monster was underneath the tree, tearing at 
the lower limbs, while the shaft remained 
buried in his vitals. 

*^The brave took another arrow from his 
quiver and with deliberate aim he drove the 
arrow with its obsidian shaft into one of the 
bear's eyes, cutting it entirely out. The great 
brute rolled over and with his paws tore the 
arrow from his eye, but the inward bleeding 
was fast filling his powerful lungs. 

^^The two lovers sat together trembling like 
forest leaves, as the grizzly rolled over the 
snow with his life blood oozing away. The 
young brave drew another shaft and was about 
to send it home, when Aggretta said, *Wait, he 



[57] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



will not live long now, and you may need your 
arrows. We are far from our people and there 
are many wild beasts between us and our 

lodge.' 

"He replaced the arrow in his quiver, say- 
ing, 'Aggretta speaks wisely, like her father. 
Black Baven.' 

"At last the lovers came slowly down from 
the tree. Cautiously the brave crept forward 
and made sure the bear was dead. Then he 
grasped the shaft, and exerting all his strength 
pulled it from the breast of the dead brute, 
whose lungs it had penetrated. Holding the 
bloody arrow in his hand, the young brave told 
Aggretta this was his first great bear. 

" 'Yes,' said Agretta, 'now you have won a 
name, and Aggretta the daughter of chief Black 
Raven, will name you the Red Arrow.' 

"After taking the claws of the bear to make 
a necklace for himself, they started down the 
trail in their homeward journey. Young and 
fleet of foot, they went, at a swift pace down the 
mountain, hand in hand. After covering many 

[58] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



miles, Eed Arrow called a lialt at a mountain 
spring, where he took from his buckskin shirt 
some dried sheep, and they ate heartily while 
they talked of the great rejoicing there would 
be in the Sheep Eaters' lodges when they re- 
turned. 

''After lunch they started on down the trail, 
Aggretta keeping pace with Red Arrow. Once 
the stillness was broken by the faint blast of a 
red cedar horn; but it was not until they had 
stopped to rest in a great park, where the snow 
had melted away, that they heard a blast that 
echoed and reechoed through the wild hills and 
canyons and the farthest glen. Red Arrow rec- 
ognized the blast as coming from his father's 
horn, and took from his belt a horn made from 
the mountain ram 's horn. Filling his powerful 
lungs, he placed it carefully to his lips, and 
blew one long quivering blast which burst 
through the air like a rocket, penetrating the 
canyons and the forests, echoing far down 
through the valleys where the Sheep Eaters 
had built their lodges among the crags. 



[59] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



*'As they rested under a great tree with the 
sunlight filtering through its branches, making 
lacy patterns on the moss at their feet, and the 
magpies and squirrels scolding and chattering 
in the nearby trees, Aggretta told of her 
wanderings on the mountains, and her escape 
from the bear, the despair she felt of ever 
being rescued, and her joy when she saw him, 
Eed Arrow, coming. Eed Arrow's heart was 
too full for utterance, and when she had 
finished, he sat looking into her beautiful brown 
eyes, while his heart throbbed almost aloud. 
At last he said, 'Red Arrow look heap on Ag- 
gretta?' 

* ' Casting her eyes around like a frightened 
fawn, she moved closer to her lord of the forest. 
<< < Aggretta much good, and great father 
say me have Aggretta,' he continued. 

*'She nestled still closer and he slipped his 
arm around the trembling maiden and drew her 
to him. His pleading eyes looked straight into 
hers, and through into her very soul, as he said, 



[00] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



* You give me much good name, now do you give 
me Aggretta?' 

''Softly her arm stole round his neck, the 
biack head went down on his shoulder while 
tears of joy slipped down her cheeks. Words 
could not add to the rapture of these two hearts 
drawn together by the wonderful love known 
only to the children of nature, and they sat in 
silence until the cedar horn was heard again. 
This was the signal to move on. Down through 
the beautiful ferns and wild flowers the lovers 
sped, leaving behind the mountains and the 
snow. Hand in hand they pressed forward 
down the winding trail, beaten deep into the 
earth by the buffalo, the elk, the deer, the sheep. 
The goldenrod nodded in the breeze. Little 
squirrels went frisking up the nut pines, gather- 
ing the rich nuts, and the ruffed grouse safely 
hidden among the brown leaves, quietly viewed 
the scene. 

''Tired and breathless the two Sheep Eaters 
reached the park a few miles above the village 
and were met there by the rescuing party. The 



m 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



great chief, Bed Eagle, folded Aggretta in his 
arms. Then taking his son, he embraced them 
both and blessed them with his richest bless- 
ings. The horns were brought forth, and their 
notes bursting upon the air apprised the wait- 
ing villagers of the finding of Aggretta. When 
the royal pair had been escorted from the 
mountain park to their lodges, the whole vil- 
lage joined in song and praise for the young 
chief. Then all the chiefs assembled, and 
before them and the young brave, Aggretta 
bashfully told the story of how she was driven 
to the forest by the storm, lost among the great 
fir trees, followed by the bear, escaped into the 
fir tree, and her rescue by the young papoose 
when she had given up all hope. She described 
his race for life and the courage and ingenuity 
with which he outwitted the bear, and of his 
sending the arrow to the creature's heart. She 
told how, when he had pulled the arrow from 
the brute's heart all dripping with blood, she 
had named him Chief Red Arrow. 

*^The chiefs, after listening to her story, 

[62] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



agreed that the papoose had won the right to 
a name; and he was then and there christened 
Chief Red Arrow. 

**The next day Chief Red Arrow selected a 
beautiful tepee, made of the best of lodge poles, 
cemented together with pine pitch and glue 
from the mountain ram's hoofs, and in it he 
stored his earthly stock of goods. He carpeted 
the floor of his new lodge with the skins of the 
mountain ram, the cougar, the red deer, the elk, 
and the bear, while the walls were hung with 
robes from the mountain bison, the otter, the 
beaver, the mink, and the martin. The vil- 
lagers watched with interest while he worked. 
He drew a rawhide thong across the center of 
his lodge, facing the door. On this he hung the 
prize trophies of the chase, making a partition 
for his lodge. In the center he left a door-way, 
over which he hung a beautiful spotted elk calf 
robe for a door. The lodge was located in an 
ideal spot, where the green mountain ferns 
covered the ground and a spring of clear water 
sparkled and bubbled close at hand. On either 



[03] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



side stood a large, low, spreading pine, protect- 
ing the lodge from the summer suns and winter 
storms. 

*^ While Red Arrow was still busy decorat- 
ing his lodge for his young bride-to-be, sixteen 
of the best hunters were sent into the forest and 
mountains and directed to bring in the choicest 
game to be found and the skin of the great bear 
that had come so near killing Aggretta. 

**A11 this time Aggretta was nowhere to be 
seen. It was a custom among the Sheep Eaters 
that the prospective bride must seclude herself 
and prepare for the coming ceremonies. 

^^Four days later the lodge was completed 
and all but three of the hunters had returned 
loaded with mountain sheep, elk, and deer. On 
the fifth day came the tliT-ee with the skin of the 
great bear which had given Red Arrow his 
name. 

**The great skin was placed on the ground. 
Red Arrow brought Aggretta out, and before 
the whole village she repeated the story of her 
terrible experience on the mountain and her 



[64] 




10 


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A SUMMER HOUSE OR LOVERS " RETRE 



\T 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



rescue by Red Arrow. Then the great Red 
Eagle, in all his splendor, stepped upon a rock 
and announced that his son. Red Arrow, now 
had a name, won by bravery shown in the sav- 
ing of the life of Aggretta, and in ten sleeps the 
Red Arrow would bring this beautiful maiden, 
daughter of the Black Raven, to his lodge, at 
which time there would be great rejoicing and 
feasting among the Sheep Eaters. When he 
had concluded three blasts were blown on the 
cedar horns and the crowd quietly dispersed 
to their lodges. 

''The next ten days were busy ones in the 
village. Every Indian had his share in the pre- 
parations for the great event. 

''On the morning of the tenth sleep, before 
even the birds had begun their morning chants, 
thirty braves in their gala dress, stole silently 
forth from their lodges and assembled in the 
open space before the village. When the first 
faint blush of dawn appeared in the east, a blast 
from thirty cedar horns broke the stillness of 
the beautiful mountain village. As the last 



[65] 



THE SHEE P EATERS 

notes died away two processions from opposite 
ends of the village started toward the bridal 
lodge Aggretta, in her bridal gown of skins 
and beads, black hair down to her moccasin 
tops, came with the step of a qneen from her 
father's lodge, attended by twenty-eight lovely 
maidens, each the choice of her tribe. From 
the other end of the village came Red Arrow 
out of the lodge of Chief Red Eagle, attended 
by twenty-eight braves, all splendid m their 

wedding garb. 

"Never bride pledged her troth amid 
greater beauty. Overhead a canopy of blue 
with here and there a fleecy cloud daintly edged 
with pink. Round about were walls of massive, 
towering rock, stately evergreens and the 
thousand surrounding lodges, and under foot 
a carpet of grass and ferns and flowers. 

"Just as the sun's rim cleared the horizon, 
the lovers met at the door of the lodge and 
stood side by side on the great bear skm, while 
the blowing of horns and the chanting of 
twenty-eight maidens and twenty-eight braves 

[66] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



made the mountains ring with joy. Then a 
thousand voices swelled the chorus of praise 
to the 3^oung aristocrats. 

''The great medicine chief came forward 
and performed the rites of the tribe. The pair 
knelt on the bear skin with their faces to 
the sun, while he joined them together in mar- 
riage. The ceremonies finished, the brave and 
his bride entered the lodge he had prepared, 
while the villagers went to their tepees, chant- 
ing songs of praise to the new made bride. 

''At evening, when the sun had gone to rest 
and the stately peaks had changed from pink 
to lavendar, from gold to copper, and from pur- 
ple to gray, when the evening star had cleared 
the horizon and had begun to wink and beckon 
to the laggard moon, then again the village 
awoke to life, and the royal feast began. Fires 
were kindled and great flat stones were heated. 
Choice cuts of elk, the tenderloin and tongues 
and hams of sheep were roasted. Venison 
steak and ribs were broiled to a turn. The 
bridal couple came forth and once more took 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



their place on the bear skin. The singers and 
dancers in the center of the great throng began 
their weird chants and slow rhythmical steps. 
The tom-tom burst forth, the chants became 
louder, the dance swifter. The maidens took 
up the chant, first low and sweet, and as it grew 
higher and louder, the young braves added 
their voices, then the older people joined the 
chorus. Torches of cedar, burning like rockets, 
were thrown into the air, the tom-toms pealed 
out their muffled notes, and from a thousand 
throats rolled the great wedding song, until the 
tepees shook, and the hills and valleys echoed 
with the sounds of rejoicing. They danced and 
chanted and feasted while the stars came out 
till the sky seemed crowded, while the camp- 
fires leaped and blazed. They danced and 
feasted and sang, until the camp-fires smould- 
ered and died out, and the night birds made 
their last faint twitterings before seeking rest. 
They sang and feasted and danced when all 
else was still save the Grey Bull River, murmur- 
ing as it swept along over its gravelly bed, the 

[68] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



far off hoot of an owl, or the cry of the coyote 
still lingering for his share of the wedding 
feast. When the little stars had gone to rest 
and the larger ones were beginning to slip 
away, then quietly, in groups, the throng dis- 
persed, wishing the newly married pair good 
night and happy days, as they passed. 

^'When the last one had gone, Red Arrow 
turned to his bride, and taking her by the hand, 
led her into his lodge. Looking into her brown 
eyes, so full of love and trust, he said, 'This is 
our home, and I know we shall always be happy 
here, for our people all love us and the great 
spirit is well pleased. ' 

^'Then he let the skin fall loosely over the 
door, and the great day of the Sheep Eaters 
had passed. The silent night became more 
silent, the owl ceased calling to his mate, the 
coyote skulked into his lair, the birds ceased 
their chirping, the great forest trees seemed 
in a trance, not a flower or fern moved, all 
nature was at rest. 

''The Great Red Eagle, chief of the twenty- 



[69] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



eight tribes, sent runners to all his people with 
the message that in the spring, when the warm 
sun should come again, all the tribes were to 
assemble at the great Sun Dial to worship and 
rejoice over the wedding of his son to the beau- 
tiful Aggretta. 

^'The warm sim came, and a great camp-fire 
was kept burning for two nights on Bald Moun- 
tain, where it could be seen by the tribes many 
miles away, even into Wyoming. Then came 
the greatest gathering that had ever assembled 
in the mountains. 

^'Day after day came the people, eager to see 
the young chieftian and his squaw, who were to 
rule the people when the great Eed Eagle was 
no longer able to rule. Songs to the sun began 
to rise from the great rock-ribbed mountains, 
and the royal family, with Red Arrow and the 
beautiful Aggretta, took their places on the 
great stone spokes of the wheel, facing the east. 
They began their worship by moving along 
until they came to the rim, when the men turned 
to the right and the squaws to the left, singing 

[70] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



their chants to the sun. The sun chant begins 
very low, but as they go around the wheel it be- 
comes louder and louder until the climax is 
reached, then a new company takes the wheel, 
and the first worshippers retire to their seats, 
watching and joining in the chants until the 
foothills and canyons and plains resound with 
the music. 

**Thus the days and nights were passed 
until the end of their fourteen day holiday had 
come. The chief and his squaw had become 
acquainted with the leaders of the twenty-eight 
tribes, and after the annual worship was over 
and the customary gifts had been made to the 
young chief. Red Arrow, and his bride, each 
tribe, headed by the subchief went to their 
homes among the mountains.'* 



[71 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



CHAPTER VIII 

CLOSING WOEDS 

One evening, when the old squaw seemed to 
be in a friendly mood, I made some inquiries as 
to where the several tribes had lived, and she 
said: **You white man want to know heap 
about Sheep Eaters. Why for you know so 
much?" 

I told her I was very much interested in her 
people. Then I gave her a pretty bead neck- 
lace of regular crow beads, ornamented w^ith 
paint. She put them on and a smile lighted the 
wrinkled old face. 

^' White man heap good,'' she said, patting 
the beads; then after admiring the beads for 
a time, she turned her attention to me. ' ^ White 
man find many camps of Sheep Eaters on Paint 
Rocks. Sheep Eaters make much squaw and 
papoose on rocks. On Great Mountain, w^bite 
man find many tepees and sheep pens where 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



Indian catch much sheep to eat. Many rivers 
away up in mountain, find much Indian work. 
Away up close to bad spirit country, you find 
many tepee, much rich plenty. (National 
Park.) Our people think bad spirits always at 
war in the earth, so our people scarcely ever 
went into that country, although our great men 
fetch obsidian from there to make arrows. Our 
men make arrows of the most beautiful design. 
We were called the arrow makers. We made 
the most beautiful fur garments and our tanned 
skins were the best.*' 

**Tell me who you are, are you a chief's 
daughter?'' I asked. 

She turned her eyes away at the question, 
and sat for a long time with that vacant look on 
her face as though seeing all her past; then 
suddenly she turned, and looking squarely at 
me, she said, ''Me Eed Arrow's squaw." 

I was amazed, but could not doubt her word, 
as she had told me the truth so far as I had in- 
vestigated. It seemed impossible that this 
most haggard of old women could have been 



[73] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



the most beautiful girl of her tribe. But a 
hundred and fifteen years of life can change 
much, even the beautiful curves of the human 
body and the roses on the cheek and lip. A 
hundred and fifteen years I But this was the 
chance of a lifetime, I must not let it slip away 
while I dreamed. 

'* Where did your people go?'' I asked; 
what became of your tribe f 

^^One beautiful day,'' she replied, ^^when 
sun warm and earth green, white man got lost 
and his ponies come into our camp. White 
man very sick. Medicine man put him in big 
tepee and take care of him, give him much bath 
in hot water. Man got very red like Indian 
man, face much all over spots. By and by he 
die. Then sickness all over camp. Sheep 
Eater run off in forest and die. Some run to 
other villages, they all die. Sheep Eater all 
much scared and run away. Many tepee stand- 
ing alone, all dead inside. Red Eagle die. Red 
Arrow die, me no die, me very much scare, go 
off in mountains, eat berries, cherries, root. 



[74] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



Me find many Sheep Eater dead in woods. By 
and by Sheep Eaters not many. They go to 
other Indian tribes down in valley on river, 
where much big water runs, and eat heap 
buffalo, ride pony, marry heap squaw. Sheep 
Eater have one squaw, other Indians many. 
Then Sheep Eater no more, no more papoose, 
no more squaw, all gone. Cold winds go, 
spring come, wild geese come back to lakes. 
Sheep Eater no come back, all gone. Tepee 
rot, rain, wind, snow, sun, on bones, on blanket, 
tepees, skins, bows, arrows. By and by all 
gone too. Indian no go there long time, many 
moon.'' 

So passed away the proudest race of Indians 
that ever lived on earth. They left behind no 
trace of history except the Paint Rocks among 
the canyons of Wyoming, near Basin City, and 
in Crandle Creek Basin, Montana, on which we 
might read of a thousand historical deeds if 
we could but find the key. These, and the great 
shrine wheel on Bald Mountain, the sheep pens 
where the wary sheep were caught, and here 



[75]. 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



and there along the mountain trails, stone 
blinds behind which the hunter lay in ambush 
for game, are all that is left to remind us of a 
tribe now extinct. 

From those visible signs, and the tales of 
the old squaw and stories extant among other 
tribes, we find the Sheep Eaters were a strong, 
brave, peaceable race of people, clean morally 
and physically. Provident and inventive, ex- 
celling in all the Indian arts. They lived as 
brothers. No poor were ever known among 
them, all sharing alike except the chiefs, who 
had larger tepees and more robes that they 
might care for visitors. Death was meted out 
to the woman who broke her marriage vows, 
and after death she was condemned to live in 
darkness and never again to see the sun they 
worshipped. 

They never knew the use of alcohol in any 
form. It was left to the proud, civilized whites 
to bring that curse to the Indians. This favored 
people never saw but the one white man, and he 



[76] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



only brought death to their bodies, leaving their 
souls unashamed to face their Maker. 

It seems very fitting that this most perfect 
tribe of which we know should have lived out 
their little span of life among the most perfect 
surroundings, building their homes in the crags 
and rocks among those towering mountains, 
whose lofty heads are covered with perpetual 
snow, on whose sides great glaciers lie half 
hidden, like monsters of the deep. Dark 
stretches of timber fringe the canyons where 
the bald eagle, silent as the grave, seeks its 
prey. To the south the black forest clings to 
the shoulders of the mountains where the snow 
goes whirling across the peaks, along the table 
land, and into the valleys. Always and always 
the silent Eockies towering among the clouds 
on the one side and the majestic Big Horn on 
the other. Sentinel peaks, capped with the 
eternal snows, stand like hoary-headed giants. 
Great piles of God's masonry wall in this emer- 
ald vale with one ever-astounding, sometimes 
appalling, always changing vista of mountain, 



[77] 



THE SHEEP EATERS 



forest, river, lake, crest, gorge, and peak. 
Crouched in this empire of solemnity by night 
and grandeur by day, was the home of the 
Sheep Eaters. 



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